


Come Along

by Arithese



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Damian Wayne Needs a Hug, Damian is trying, Distrust, Dysfunctional Family, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Patrol, Gen, Kidnapping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-02-23 20:10:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18709138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arithese/pseuds/Arithese
Summary: Bruce doesn't trust Damian as Robin after he comes back from the dead, but Dick asks him to give Damian a chance.





	Come Along

January 12th, 2019. 22:03

“You have to give him a chance, Bruce.” Dick sighed, watching Bruce with a disapproving gaze, the same disapproving gaze that Bruce had now reserved for Damian, or rather, the outfit he was wearing. Bruce blinks a few times, turning around to look at his oldest son. Damian didn’t seem to realise the gaze.

He was busy restocking his uniform with the necessary materials.

It had been a little over a week since Bruce had gotten back, and of course the man had insisted on patrolling as soon as Alfred had cleared him. Or rather, as long as Alfred could keep Bruce on bedrest. It was weird for all of them. It was weird of Dick to see someone else other than him in the Batman suit.

He hated that suit at first, it weighed too heavily, the cape hindered his fighting abilities, and the image it carried made him uncomfortable to say the least. He wasn’t brooding, he wasn’t meant to be scary all the time. Nightwing represented light, a light in the darkness that seemed to never end in Gotham or the world.

Damian, even if he’d never admit it was also put off by seeing someone else in the suit. He had spend little time with Bruce, which both surprised and didn’t surprise Dick at the same time. Damian always wanted to work with his dad, but to Damian… Bruce wasn’t a dad to him, he was a father, sharing some DNA.

But it was Dick who raised him.

And Bruce.. Bruce couldn’t even phantom the idea that Dick had given Robin, _his_ name, the name that his parents had called him when he was younger and when they were still alive, to Damian. And Bruce felt terrible for thinking that, but he pushed it down like he often did. Damian in the Robin suit was something.. wasn’t something that was supposed to happen.

“There is too much anger in him, sending him out-” Bruce started but Dick stopped him with a disappointed shake of the head which somehow surprised Bruce.

“This just shows how little you know him Bruce.” Dick sighed, but Bruce could clearly hear the hurt in his voice. “It’s not anger, it’s hurt, it’s desperation. Just.. just please give him a chance okay?” Bruce frowns, turning back to Damian again. The current Robin was done checking his arsenal and had already applied his mask to his face.

For a moment Dick was afraid Bruce’s frown was plastered to his face before the older man grabbed the cowl, pulling it over his face.

“One night” Batman said, watching as Robin approached the both of them. Robin glanced at Batman, so much uncertainty hidden by the mask. An uncertainty that meant that the boy didn’t _know_ how to act around his own father, that he didn’t know what was going to happen to him and Dick now Bruce was Batman again.

And that terrified him.

It was uncertainty of his own place in the world, in this city and this house. Could he remain as Robin? Would his father accept him? Dick didn’t even know which one weighed more importantly right now. His father’s acceptance of Damian, or of Robin. The boy was scared but Dick knew that the only thing Bruce could see…

..Was the anger that Damian used to hide that emotion.

*

*

*

January 12th, 2019. 23:26

Nightwing felt… weird. That was the only way he could use to describe how he was feeling right now. The wind whipped around him, causing his hair to fly in every direction. It felt freeing, feeling the wind through the same hair that had still been hidden under a cowl the last time he was on patrol.

The weight, and limitations, of the cape that usually hung around his back was gone for the first time in months. It felt freeing to not have the burden of being Batman anymore, but just be his own person again. The persona he had created on his own, away from Bruce’s shadow all those years ago.

And yet, it all felt so wrong.

No, he didn’t miss the weight on his back, or that he missed the emotional weight the Batman persona carried or the way the cowl restricted his head..

He missed being Batman to his Robin.

He glanced over as Damian jumped from the rooftop, letting himself fall just a little too long. It was something _he_ taught his little brother, or rather, something Damian had picked up from him over the course of the last 6 months. Dick didn’t even realise whether it was consciously or unconsciously done.

It felt weird seeing him in his Robin costume, when he wasn’t his Batman anymore. That was Bruce, jumping after Damian and swinging much sooner. Bruce who, despite Dick’s claims, was still wary of his only blood son.

“Nightwing, Robin.” Batman commented, landing on the rooftop swiftly. Nightwing did so as well, walking over to Batman with Robin close to him.

“What is wrong?” Robin asks softly, taking a last step so he was standing next to his father.

“Down below.” Batman pointed, and Nightwing stepped onto the ledge, looking down.

“That’s too many guards for something legal.” Nightwing muttered, eyes narrowing slightly. There were 2 guards standing in front of a big door, a door that was now open and a man walking into it. It was a middle-aged man, a little belly and bald. “Could this be connected to the missing children?” He continues.

Batman narrows his eyes behind the cowl. “Might be, we should check it out.” He announces, and Robin nods with a determined look. There have been child abductions all over Gotham city lately, so much as 11 children going missing, all younger than 10 years old, and all ripped away from their parents.

Batman glanced at Nightwing for a second before he jumped down the alley.

“Shit it’s Batman!” One of the goons cries out, but Batman quickly takes him out, jumping at the next one immediately afterwards. He could hear two thuds behind him and he turned around to see Nightwing and Robin landing in the alley as well. Nightwing moved to one of the unconscious goons, quickly tying his hands behind his back.

Batman did the same with the last goon that was laying at his feet. He spared his two sons a quick glance but they were both ready to follow him. Batman turned to the door, opening it and jumping in, both Nightwing and Robin close behind him.

*

*

*

January 13th, 2019. 00:15

The child whimpered loudly, and Nightwing winced as the child pressed himself tightly against the back of the cage. It wasn’t particularly warm in the basement and the metal couldn’t be any better for the temperature, and a shiver wracked through the child’s body as he moved.

 _And Nightwing couldn’t do anything_.

“See what I mean?” Nightwing asks softly, standing up fully again and glancing at Batman, who had his eyes narrowed behind his cowl.

“They will be okay once the police gets here.” Bruce mutters. They hadn’t found all of the children, but they had found where they were being held, at least, 9 of them. Batman had already called in the police to send them to the locations, so far he had received confirmation for seven of the kids being rescued.

But they hadn’t all been sold yet, 2 were still here, down in the basement. It had been Nightwing who found them, knocked out the guard and opened the cage. But the cage was small, and deep, and the two kids in the cage had crawled back in fear of Nightwing when he opened them.

And he was too big to coax them out, and the last thing he wanted to do was force them out.

So he checked for any serious injuries, which luckily wasn’t the case, before he called Batman and Robin down to look as well.

Nightwing glances at the cage again, seeing 1 pair of terrified blue eyes glance back at him, the other kid was much younger, and was wrapped into the other one’s arms. He couldn’t see if it was a boy or a girl, but the older one was definitely female, probably around 8 years old or so.

“I’m not here to hurt you.” Nightwing spoke softly, crouching down again. “Can you understand me? English? Español, Deutsch, anything?” But the kids didn’t open their mouth, and didn’t show any sign of understanding him. Nightwing dropped to his knees, getting a little bit closer.

Both kids whimpered, and the smaller one said something in a language Nightwing couldn’t recognise. The older man sighs, standing up again and walking over to Batman.

“I can only speak so many.” Nightwing tried to joke. “Any results on the people behind this?” He continues. Batman shakes his head.

“Oracle is running an analysis right now, but so far it doesn’t give any results. Either these guys are good, or they haven’t been caught yet.”

“Keep me updated.” Batman mutters, disconnecting the line. “Robin-” He starts, but he frowns when he sees the boy wasn’t at his side anymore. _Of course he wasn’t_. Bruce thought grimly, looking at Nightwing but he quickly put a hand up to silence Batman before he could continue.

Batman frowns, but Nightwing quietly gestures over to the cage with the kids.

"آپ اردو بولتے ہیں، کیا آپ نہیں بولتے؟" Robin, now crouching in front of the cage, asks softly. At least, Bruce thought it was a question by the tone of his voice. Nightwing turned towards the boy as well, but didn’t comment.

“جی ہاں” Was the soft reply the current Robin got. Nightwing could see a smile tug at Damian’s lips, but it disappeared as quickly as it got there.

“_ہم یہاں آپ کو بچانے کے لئے آئے ہیں، آپ محفوظ ہیں” Damian replied, words rolling off his tongue without any effort. Batman glanced at Nightwing for a moment, but the boy seemed both surprised and perplexed at the sight. Nightwing couldn’t recognise the language Damian was speaking in, but he could guess.

He knew Damian could speak many languages after all, had told him once after months he was left guessing.

“_مجھے اپنی امی کے پاس جانا ہے” The girl whimpered from inside the cage, and Damian hummed in acknowledgement, nodding his head. There was a softness that Nightwing hadn’t seen often in the boy, especially not when he was in his Robin costume, and he looked over to see Batman almost gawking.

At least, he knew he was. From the outside it looked like he was staring at his youngest son, as if he believed he could do something if he stares intensely enough, eyebrows drawn inwards in a frown. Nightwing just knew him too well, could read his body language to know what he was feeling right now.

 _Surprise._ Nightwing’s stomach turned just slightly. Because it would’ve been funny to see Batman surprised any other day. It didn’t happen very often after all, Bruce was prepared for most of the stuff. But right now that surprise wasn’t funny, it meant that Bruce was surprised that Damian could be kind.

Damian said something else, something neither of them seemed to understand and slowly, very slowly, a hand grasped the edge of the cage, a tiny, brown tinted hand. Two sets of head soon followed, one still burrowed in the shoulder of the little girl, and the little girl carrying the younger boy.

The little girl didn’t even glance at them, only seemed to look at Robin, before she flung herself at him. Nightwing could see Damian freeze when the girl pressed herself into his chest, muscles going rigid. His eyes, filled with panic, roamed to Nightwing for a moment, who just smiled back.

It was all Damian needed apparently, before he slowly wrapped his arms around the two kids.

“سب ٹھیک ہے” Damian whispered. The hug wasn’t natural from his side, limbs holding them awkwardly, but it seemed enough for the kids. Sobs wracked through both of them, and Damian could do nothing but hold them. Bruce’s face softened slightly under his cowl, and Dick nudged him gently.

“I told you.” Dick smiled, before making his way over to his youngest brother. The children in Damian’s arms whimpered when he did, and the current Robin looked at him with an almost accusing face. “We should go upstairs.” Dick mentions softly, and Damian nods, turning to the kids.

Damian said something again, and Dick couldn’t understand it. But the girl nodded tearfully, carefully releasing the uniform that she had fisted. She glances at Dick warily but slowly all three of them stand up. Damian bends down a little, picking up the younger boy, who had to be around 5 years old.

It suddenly struck Dick.

 _It might as well have been Damian in that cage, not because of his race, not because of his mother tongue, but because of his age_. The oldest child was 11, Damian wasn’t even 11 yet, he was just a 10 year old boy who was now carrying someone that was half his age, balancing him awkwardly but securely.

The boy wrapped his arms around Damian’s neck and the girl grabbed his hand, and wouldn’t let go.

“We cannot leave them with the police.” Damian spoke, looking up at Dick.

“Why not?” Dick frowns slightly.

“They are unable to communicate with them. I refuse to leave them.” Damian affirmed, and Dick glanced at Bruce for a moment, but he seemed still too stunned to respond.

“The others can cover patrol for tonight, right bats?” It wasn’t even a question, it was a statement, and Dick turned back to Damian before Bruce could give a reaction. “Let’s go, it’s not really warm here.”

Damian nodded, effortlessly siding with Dick again as they walked to the exit. And about halfway through, Damian managed to convince the girl, who was apparently called Zaima, to let Dick carry her. She wanted to put on a brave face, but they all knew she was exhausted, cold and dehydrated.

So she clung to Dick like the boy, Gowan, did.

“That wasn’t Arabish, wasn’t it?” Dick asks as they walk outside, the batmobile already on its way. Damian glances at him, shaking his head. Dick knew the basics of Arabish, he was still learning after all, but he couldn’t understand everything.

“It was Urdu.” Damian muttered softly. “They do not understand English.” Dick hummed slightly, watching the batmobile approach.

“I figured as much.” He says, and Dick can see some tension bleed away from Damian’s body. He knew the boy didn’t like talking about subjects like this, anything that would link him to his childhood. But Dick didn’t mind, he knew the boy was slowly opening up to him, he had already come so far.

The batmobile arrived minutes later, and the look of joy on the children’s faces was enough to even make Damian smile slightly.

*

*

*

January 13th, 2019. 03:36

Damian _wanted_ to scowl, he tried to at least. But even with the domino mask on, it was too clear how much he was enjoying himself right now. To Dick at least.

“I must say, I wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to ask.” Jim Gordon said softly, standing next to Nightwing as both of them, and Batman, watched Damian with the two kids.

“Ask what?” Nightwing asks, not taking his eyes of the sight. His younger brother was sitting on his knees at a small table, the little boy Gowan in between his legs but fully focused on the pencils and the paper they had both been given. Zaima was colouring as well, but a little more calmly.

She was still occasionally glancing around warily, but seemed to feel safe for the most part.

“About Robin’s heritage, Pakistan huh?” Jim asks, and Nightwing tenses slightly at the comment.

“You know I can’t answer that.” Bruce stepped up in a low voice, and Jim hummed, nodding.

“I know you can’t, and I won’t tell anyone he can speak Urdu.” Jim said, glancing around the room. They were the only one currently allowed in the room, and Bruce trusted Jim to keep his word, and Nightwing allowed a bit of tension to leave his body.

“Nightwing.” Robin calls out suddenly, and the 3 adults glanced at the boy. “They… require your presence here.” He continues, and Nightwing can feel a grin splitting his face. He nods, walking over to the kids. The kids seemed a little wary, but Nightwing sat down on the ground as well.

The girl said something, and Damian quietly translated it to Nightwing.

“He’s a good boy.” Jim says softly, glancing at Batman. “He was violent at first, and that scared me. The other Robins were never that violent, maybe the second one was a bit rough around the edges, but not like this.”

Bruce frowns behind the cowl, glancing at Jim. The cop chuckles.

“Let’s just say the hospital wings had to hire additional staff for a while.” He says, and Bruce growls low in his throat. “But he got better, Nightwing was a different Batman, but he did a good job teaching Robin. Their bond is obvious, and Robin has come a long way.” He continues, and Bruce nods.

Jim bit his lip for a moment, daring himself to look at Batman. He seemed admittedly less scary right now, in full light of the room, and staring at his two sons. At least, Jim was sure they were his sons. Not because they looked like one another, because even the first Robin wasn’t entirely caucasian, and the current one had a dark olive skin.

But it was clear that he cared about them greatly, and Nightwing and Robin did so too.

“I have to ask Batman, you’re not… hurting him are you?” The question was almost too soft to hear, and Batman whipped his head around in horror. Jim put his hands up. “I’m just saying, he shows a lot of signs consistent with child abuse, and this is the first time I see him out with you.”

Of course they couldn’t fool Jim that Nightwing was the real Batman, of course he had noticed it was Nightwing under that cowl.

“I never hurt him, Commissioner Gordon.” Bruce ground out, feeling shame churn in his stomach. _But I neglected him, in the first 10 years of his life, and when I died._ “Someone else did before I could stop them.”

“That would explain a lot.” Jim said in a low voice, glancing at the current Robin. “I’ve seen so many kids during my career Batman, they’re all victims but some are too far gone, too violent, too broken beyond repair… not Robin though. He’s caring, he tries.”

Bruce wanted to be able to say something along the lines of _I know_. He knew his son suffered greatly, but he knew he could get better, become better than his past. At least, he wanted to. He wanted to be able to know that, to be able to tell commissioner Gordon that he knew.

But he couldn’t.

Before he could say anything else though, someone knocked on the door. Everyone in the room, minus the kids either turned their heads or tensed. Jim walked over to the door, carefully opening it.

“They’re here.” A deputy said, stepping aside to reveal a man and a woman. _The parents_ , Batman realised. They had been on a holiday to the United States when the children had been kidnapped just 2 weeks ago. It had taken the police a while to contact them, and even longer for them to travel to Gotham, as they hadn’t been staying here.

“Are they here?” The woman asks anxiously, tears streaming down her face and her accent thickly laced through her speech. But they could all understand. Jim nodded, gesturing for them to come inside.

“Ammi! Baba!” Zaima was the first one to notice them. She scrambled upwards, running at her parents. Batman didn’t need to know Urdu to know what she was saying, _mom, dad_. The little boy scrambled out of Damian’s hold as well, running after his sister, a little more unstable on his feet.

The woman sobbed, dropping to her knees and allowing her kids to barrel into her. Damian slowly stood up, walking towards Dick and staying there. Bruce could feel a tinge of jealousy, but he shook it off. Dick put a gentle hand on Damian’s shoulder, but both of them kept their focus on the small family.

“Mein yahan hun.” The father cried, tears of joy streaming down his face as he wrapped his arms around his children as well.

Minutes passed by, and eventually the mother let go of her kids, standing up. The dad picked up both of the kids, balancing them on either hip. She turned to Jim, tears still streaming down her face.

“Thank you, thank you.” She repeated, and Bruce could almost see her brain rattling for more she could say. Jim shook his head.

“Don’t thank me.” He said, before gesturing to Robin. The mother seemed to understand, turning and walking over to the current Robin. Her hands were clasped together, held to her chest as if she was afraid for something. Robin tensed, but didn’t move a muscle as the woman stopped in front of him.

“Shukriya.” The woman whispered, as if she was testing if Robin could understand her.

“Koi baat nahi.” Damian said, and the woman’s face lit up slightly. There was a short hesitation before the woman moved slowly, wrapping her arms around Robin’s frame. Damian’s eyes widened at the contact, freezing in the hug. The woman eventually pulled out of the hug, smiling.

She said something else, and Damian nodded, responding in the same tongue. The woman sniffled, wiping away her tears before walking back to her kids. She took the Gowan from his father’s arms.

“I’ll make sure they get home safely.” Jim said, turning to Batman for a moment before walking over to the family.

“We should go, Nightwing, Robin?” He addressed, and the two nodded as well, following Batman to the window. Damian stopped as he passed the family again.

“Apna khayal rakhye.” He said softly.

“Khuda hafez.” The man responded, and the woman gave him a grateful nod before Robin turned away and climbed out of the window. He quickly made his way over to the roof, where he could see Batman and Nightwing talking softly. Batman said something, a frown on his face, and Nightwing smiled.

He said something, but Damian couldn’t hear it.

He walked closer, but they noticed him, turning around. “There you are.” Nightwing grinned, slinging an arm around his shoulders and ruffling his hair. Robin scowled, but didn’t push his brother away. “I think it’s time to call it a night, don’t you think?” He continued.

“If you are tired, then we should.” Robin responded and Nightwing rolled his eyes, releasing his little brother and stepping towards the ledge. He threw himself off, shooting the grappling hook and pulling himself to the next building, towards the batmobile.

“Robin.” Batman called out before he could follow him. Robin tenses slightly, turning around.

“Yes father?” He asks, frowning slightly as Batman walked up to him. He knew his father didn’t approve of him, it hurt, but not as much as he thought it would before he returned from the death. But it still hurt. Batman put a hand on Robin’s shoulder, and the latter suppressed a wince at the touch.

Then.. Batman gave him a tiny smile. “You did good tonight, Robin.” He said, before releasing his shoulder and grabbing his own grappling hook. Robin understood the silent command, grabbing his hook as well and following Batman off the roof, feeling something tug on his lips.

 _His father was proud of him_.

 

**Author's Note:**

> There! Done. I really wanted to write a story where Bruce sees how Damian truly is beneath all that anger, and being bilingual myself (well Damian can speak more than two languages but you get the point) I really like to explore Damian’s ability to speak other languages, so this was born.  
> *  
> آپ اردو بولتے ہیں، کیا آپ نہیں ہیں؟ - You speak Urdu, do you not?
> 
> جی ہاں - Yes
> 
> ہم یہاں آپ کو بچانے کے لئے ہیں، آپ محفوظ ہیں - We are here to rescue you, you are safe
> 
> _مجھے اپنی امی کے پاس جانا ہے - I want to go to my mother. 
> 
> Shukriya - thank you
> 
> Koi baat nahi - (equivalent of you’re welcome)
> 
> Mein yahan hun - I'm here
> 
> Khuda hafez - goodbye.
> 
> Apna khayal rakhye - Take care.
> 
> Also, When I said I’m bilingual, I didn’t mean I could speak Urdu, so these were all taken from websites teaching Urdu or google translate, so if you can speak Urdu and there are any mistakes in the translations, please let me know!


End file.
